Rumble at The Roseland 44 MMA Action in Portland

Rumble at The Roseland 44 may have been the most consistently entertaining night of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) action I’ve seen. With sixteen action packed fights, the evening was never dull and it moved along at a terrific pace. The evening saw its share of upsets and victories. Female fighter Jody De Simone (who we interviewed here prior to the fight) was defeated by new comer Jana Piper and Chris Nelson was rocked by a Jay Shaffer in an outstanding prize fight upset. But it was Jake Morris who delivered most solidly to expectations in one of the most dynamic and entertaining fights of the night.

Here’s a rundown of the bouts at Rumble at The Roseland and my thoughts on them.

Jay Pense v. Jeff Yost – when you think of the words “amateur MMA” a fight like this probably comes to mind. Two relatively inexperienced fighters wildly hitting, kicking and grappling, neither with any finesse or strategy. The bout ends 2 mins and 12 seconds in the second round with Jeff Yost catching Jay Pense in a triangle. In all the worst fight of the evening.

Ron Lane v. John Garcia – a solid fight with two fairly evenly matched fighters. Garcia goes for arm bar after arm bar attempt against Lane but never can quite lock it in. The fight goes a full three rounds with Garcia putting the exclamation point towards the end with a dominating finish that earns him the decision.

Jester Arnold Vs. Shane Smith – the fight explodes out of the gate with a fast an furious folly of punishes. Smith dominates once the fight moves to the ground and brings the fight to a climatic finish 1 minute and 12 seconds into the fight via rear naked choke. It’s a short fight but Smith showed a ton of promise in this match.

Sean Murphy v. Greg Shelby – Murphy came to weigh in dressed in a suit and tie as he had just come from his college graduation ceremony. He wasn’t going to let the day’s glory end there as he had an extremely solid showing and got Murphy with a nice choke. After the bout he brought his wife on stage and exclaimed “This is why I fight!”

Brandon Pitts v. David Lloyd – Pitts looked like he was in amazing shape facing the much huskier Lloyd but he struggled with dominance through out the fight. A strong arm bar attempt in the first round leads to Lloyd’s escape and then Lloyd came back strong and won by an early second round tap out by choke (1min 14 seconds in the second round).

Blake Brown V. Sean Miller – Miller had huge fan support, the crowd at the Roseland was so loud when he made his entrance it was deafening. The first round was pretty even with both fighters giving as good as they got. Punches, kicks and take-downs are evenly exchanged until 2 minutes and 59 1/2 seconds when Miller delivers and explosive knock out. Brown hits the canvas, lights out as the horn sounds. A dramatic finish to a great fight. Sean Miller moves to 3-0 and shows he’s a fighter to watch.

Jeremy Disbrow vs. Luke Shepard – Disbrow came in the ring covered in sweat, he jumped, leaped and beat his chest. In contrast Luke Shepard came in cool, calm and collect and quickly dispatched him with an early round arm bar. Shepard’s cool composure and the way he dispatched Shepard makes him a fighter to watch.

Lincoln Joe v. Joe Kyle Werner – a great example of contrasts, two extremely looking and fighting fighters who delivered an entertaining fight. The first round Werner delivers a ton of punishment to Lincoln who keeps on fighting. The second round has two stoppages for Lincoln delving knees on the ground to Werner (something that’s permitted in the league he usually fights in), but the stops don’t stop Lincoln who delivers a punishing ground and pound to finish the fight.

Janna Piper v. Jody De Simone – high expectations met this match-up of the female MMA fighters and the two fighters seemed to realize that. The first round showed some strong exchanges from both sides and tough responses showing the each fighter could take a beating. The fight moves to the second round with Janna topping Jody and then nearly choking her out. Jody recovers and seems to have Janna on the run when Janna delivers some power blows. The fight is stopped after the second round (between the 2nd and 3rd round) because De Simone had issues seeing out of her left eye.

Here’s the video of the Janna Piper v. Jody De Simone Fight:

Eric Hurt v. Jeremy Morse – a solid fight with Morse dominating most of the first round from the top. The bout ends in round two when Hurt delivered a monster knee to win the fight.

Nick Huff v. Brandon “Buzz” Alderman – an interesting match-up that pitted a new fighter (Huff) against a veteran (Alderman). The fight is packed with a ton of action as each fighter exchanges a volley of punches and kicks, each fighter nearly missing with some huge shots. Round two has some explosive action when Huff unloads on Alderman, but Alderman shows he can take it and then Huff gasses out. The fight is stopped between Round 2 and 3 as Huff is too exhausted to finish the fight.

Darrin Starks v. Kevin Fox – Fox is a monster in this fight and it seems like Starks can handle the punishment, but as the round keeps going the punishment gets more and more brutal until Fox knocks Starks out cold. It takes a while for Starks to get up and recover from such a resounding pounding from Fox.

Everett Walker v. Mario Rossi – a fight filled with tons of action and turns of dominance. Rossi seems to have Walker on the ropes more in a close first round. The second round has Walker dominating with a choke hold that seems like it’ll end the fight, but Rossi survives and Walker seems worse for the wear after expending so much energy on the choke. The fight is stopped due to a vanishing mouthgaurd and Rossi gets a point deducted for losing the guard. The third round is filled with exchanges with Rossi pushing the tempo and controlling more of the fight than Walker. Even with the point deduction Rossi takes the fight by decision.

Lance Ford v. Jake Morris – one of the most anticipated fights of the night, Jake Morris continues to prove he’s the ‘real deal’. At just a few months past eighteen, Morris shows he’s got the explosive power to handle anyone that he’s matched up with. Ford gives Morris a fight with a few big lead changes in the first round but it all comes to a dramatic end with a monster choke hold that knocks Ford out. Like a pro wrestler Morris dances around the ring celebrating, and with just cause, he’s on a road that leads to higher places in the MMA world.

Here’s the video from the Lance Ford v. Jake Morris fight:

Chris Nelson v. Jay Shaffer – the 205lb Superfight bout was one of the highlights of the evening. Shaffer who is 40 looked in great shape against Nelson who seemed like the favorite from the start. Nelson snagged Shaffer in a long deep choke early in the first round but Shaffer kept his cool, used his legs and body and escaped the choke. After the escape Shaffer made Nelson pay for the choke with some thunderous punches. Round two found Shaffer executing a pitch perfect strategy. Literally every move he made was spot on, all of it leading to a thunderous knockout that bloodied Nelson’s face. Shaffer showed he was the better fighter with his patience, tact and precision, beating a guy much younger than him.

Sixteen action packed MMA fights filled an evening that delivered an extremely strong bang for the buck. The only downside of Rumble at The Roseland is that it seems to rely too heavily on the people who know the fighters to turn out. This is great in terms of crowd reaction but the downside is people who love MMA in Portland may not be all that aware that such fantastic fights are going on in this town. With promising fighters, some of which will find their way to professional careers I’d expect Rumble to seek out more press and coverage for their fights. I was shocked to find that I was one of the only reporters allowed in to the fights this time around and hope Rumble will connect with more press to get the word out on this fantastic event.

If you’re a fan of MMA and haven’t checked out Rumble at The Roseland, you owe it to yourself to check it out. The July 25th fights will feature a Jake Morris’s first shot at a title and for that reason alone it’ll be worth the price of admission.

let me ask you a question. how long have you been watching mma & "covering" it? jay pense got caught in a triangle choke, not guillotine (oh, sorry, guitine). i did not attempt to choke jody once let alone "nearly choking her out" & she never had me on the run. your obvious misinterpretations of these two fights makes me severely question your "rundown…& thoughts on…" the fights i didn't see.

and for the record, i am not a new comer. jody is a new comer. i've been training in this sport since 2000 & decided to fight nearly three years ago. this is the first time i was able to actually get a fight. jody got very lucky to have two fights in less than a year. i've had four fights fall through for me in less than a year (3 for the fcff & one in japan – tho' that was boxing). otherwise, my debut would have been last sept. (2 months before jody even started training).

weren't you the one who said that my fight w/ jessica in dec. was canceled because i didn't make weight (because i was 5 lbs under the limit)? did you happen to notice that i weighed in even less this time around & that wasn't an issue because jody made weight (she was under the limit as well).

and what is this thing you have for jake morris? as a reporter, you really should be less biased. it would be nice to have more coverage of the fights, especially by someone who actually understands the sport & can actually give a more accurate description of said events.

I was seated next to the judges table. When the action is on the far side of the ring it's not always easy to see exactly what the move is. So I've corrected jay's run down to include that it was a triangle. I'll leave your own impressions about the fight with Jody, not worth arguing that.

The fight with you and Jody was billed as your debut. So in that respect you are a new comer to the Rumble. Before writing my piece on Jody I tried to find any information about your career in the sport and came up completely empty. There isn't even a resource out there (myspace, facebook, website) in which to contact you at. Had there been I would have loved to interview you before the fight to have both sides of the bout covered.

You did look in fantastic shape for the fight, also referred to you as a tough opponent in the interview. Which you were. You fought a good solid fight.

What do I have for Jake Morris? I think he "gets" it. He's an explosive and dynamic fighter who adds just enough showmanship to hook the crowd in and make them fans. I also think he has some of the raw elements to become a professional MMA fighter, I think Chael sees that as well as it seems like he's mentoring the kid. I have absolutely NO vested interest in any fighter. But I do have ones I enjoy watching, as does anyone who covers the sport.

Instead of lambasting me for some of the fine details here, I'd think you'd appreciate the fact that this write up is THE ONLY COVERAGE of the entire event ANYWHERE. I have a ton of respect for what you do, how hard you work and what you do in the ring. But I think that respect should be mutual. You try to sit through sixteen fights, catch every detail, keep copious enough notes on each part of each round to put together a piece on the event and have it up within 8 hours of the event.

I'd expect any fighter who is working to build a name for themselves to appreciate that hard work. After all google: Janna Piper MMA and you'll see who comes up.

well, you might want to spell my name correctly. you could have read a write up about my 2008 oregon gloves match. or you could have found my business website that has my phone # & email address (it's currently unhosted, but only since the 9th). i received a call early last month from someone else who was doing a pre-write-up of the fights. she was able to get my contact info, why weren't you?

a guillotine & triangle choke are completely different & look different no matter what side of the cage you're on (the legs & arms of the choker are doing vastly different things).

you say you "have absolutely no vested interest in any fighter", yet the only fight you tape (or tape & post) is jake's? if you taped more of them, you wouldn't have to rely so much on your "copious" notes or your memory. i actually have sat (correct that, stood) through 16 to 20+ fights, taking copious notes & accurate, mostly un-biased evaluations & results. and if i was going to write a piece on the events could have done so quite easily w/in 8 hrs of said events.

my lack of respect for your writing stems from it showing your lack of knowledge of the sport, but your apparent unwillingness to state you're new comer status. just like in dec. when someone told you that my fight was canceled because i was 5 lbs under. you didn't question the statement & wrote that i didn't make weight – that is not a minor detail considering how disrespectful not making weight is to your opponent. people whom i've told who don't follow combative sports knew that didn't make sense. and, instead of correcting your statement (by replacing "janna" w/ "jessica"), you merely took it out entirely and/or wrote in a comment that it "was scratched".

i am not a self promoter, so no, there isn't much press or hype around me. i also have a s*%$load of other things going on & haven't seen the point of promoting myself when all i have is my training. marketing isn't exactly my thing either.

It's pretty clear Janna that nothing I'm going to say will have any real impact on your view of what I'm doing, so you're more than entitled to your point of view, although I strongly disagree with it.

Wow you are all so rediculus, this entire sport is meant simply for our entertainment. All of you fighters think that your so good at what you do but its all for show, look at how many people think they have what it takes to be professional!!! its no different than an other sport you work hard, train hard and have awesome work ethic but imagine if you focused that much effort into something that meant a damn! alot of you could be very successfull people.

this is Ron Lane from the Lane vs. Garcia fight. i think who ever wrote this mixed us up a little bit. i was the one throwing the armbars. he never had any kind of arm lock on me. you can clearly see that in the fight pictures on the fcff web site. thanks.

Janna, You are a sad person. This guy Geoff spent all of this time watching your match and writing about you. He actually gave you a very positive write-up that you should have been pleased with. Unfortunately, you had to go and write a response and embarrass yourself. Too bad.